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    13 Things I Learned When I Decided To Start Eating Vegetables

    I decided to vegucate myself, and you can too.

    I've always been that person who really hates vegetables.

    Here are the 13 most important things I've learned in the course of my Year of Veg-ucation.

    1. If you hate something, you're probably cooking it wrong.

    2. When in doubt, roast. Everything.

    3. Or put bacon on it.

    4. Prep veggies ahead of time so they don't turn into a mold-fest in your fridge.

    5. Salads don't have to be sad, even at your desk.

    6. Up your soup game.

    7. You can make veggies disappear (by hiding them in something else).

    8. Squash does a really great impression of spaghetti.

    9. Overcooking should be illegal.

    10. Fries are forever.

    11. You can turn almost anything green into pesto.

    12. Seasoning is everything (and garlic is your best friend).

    13. ...but it's still OK to be a hater sometimes.

    While the Year of Veg-ucation has taught me a lot about how to make vegetables an everyday (even somewhat enjoyable?) part of my life, I've also come to the realization that there are just some vegetables I still hate. Raw tomatoes is one; kale is the other.

    And that's OK! My rule is to try everything three times in three different ways, and at the end of that, if I'm still gagging, it's OK to give up. I'm never going to be the girl discussing the merits of my kale salad at work, and I'm fine with that. But over the last year, I've slowly transitioned from the girl who blanched at the sight of anything green on her plate to someone who actually enjoys cooking and eating (some) vegetables on an everyday basis. Right now, that's good enough for me.